{"id":1608,"date":"2026-06-09T10:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608"},"modified":"2026-06-09T10:40:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T10:40:30","slug":"the-deeper-agenda-behind-trumps-reflecting-pool-glow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608","title":{"rendered":"The deeper agenda behind Trump’s Reflecting Pool glow-up"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Washington, DC\u2019s newly refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool isn\u2019t just reflecting the monuments at either end.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more The best places in America for kids to grow up \u2014 and the biggest gains are coming in red states<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s mirroring President Donald Trump\u2019s surprisingly sophisticated campaign to restore nothing less than America\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n

For years, the reflecting pool was an unsightly green algae-plagued mess, due to an Obama-era effort to make it more environmentally friendly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As The Washington Post reported in 2012, algae was already blooming in it a week after its reopening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a direct consequence of the fact that this is a green project,\u201d a National Parks Service spokesperson said at the time. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe conditions are pretty good for algae, once it gets in there.\u201d<\/p>\n

And get in there it did, despite efforts to eradicate it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Obama redo also leaked \u2014 a lot. And it smelled bad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Green project, indeed.<\/p>\n

Developer Trump took note of the \u201cpool\u201d part of \u201creflecting pool\u201d and instead of calling in high-priced ecology experts, he called in . . . pool guys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They lined the leaky basin with a compound used to seal, well, pools, tinted blue for color, and added a system to treat the water swimming-pool style.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument frame a lovely body of clear, clean water that doesn\u2019t stink like a swamp.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just one part of Trump\u2019s ongoing \u201cMaking the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful\u201d program, which has been methodically cleaning and repairing ornamental fountains throughout DC, some of which had been inoperative for decades.<\/p>\n

The formerly graffiti-covered and trash-filled Columbus Plaza fountain outside Union Station is now gleaming and functioning, as are fountains in Lafayette Park, Meridian Hill Park and more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Well, Trump is a developer, and he likes things pretty \u2014\u00a0but there\u2019s more to it than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

By beautifying America\u2019s capital city, Trump wants to encourage us to be proud of America itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that<\/em> nowadays is a political project.<\/p>\n

Making Americans proud of America used to be something that united the entire political establishment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Civic education, national pride and historical commemoration were bipartisan efforts through the 1976 Bicentennial and beyond.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More recently, we\u2019ve seen the removal or neglect of monuments, the decay of civic infrastructure and the replacement of \u00a0traditionally uplifting neoclassical civic architecture with ugly modern buildings.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t an accident:\u00a0\u201cBrutalism,\u201d as a dominant architectural style, was a choice.<\/p>\n

Gone were soaring columns, noble statuary depicting American heroes or abstract figures like Justice or Liberty, and welcoming spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Pima County Sheriff issues alert for kidnapping suspect 7 miles from Nancy Guthrie\u2019s home<\/a><\/p>\n

Instead we got modern architecture \u2014 which, as Tom Wolfe notes in his delightful book \u201cFrom Bauhaus to Our House,\u201d<\/em> was quite literally designed to promote socialism.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Modern architects blamed bourgeois values for the horrors of World War II and wanted to promote socialist values instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They disdained \u201cbourgeois\u201d adornment and designed buildings to dwarf individuals, not uplift them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As scholar James Scott points out, the French architect Le Corbusier, noted for his huge buildings amid vast sterile plazas, dedicated his book \u201cThe Radiant City\u201d thus: \u201cTo Authority.\u201d<\/p>\n

But even the most socialist-minded modern architects at least wanted their works kept clean and functional.<\/p>\n

The decline in maintenance, and for that matter in public order (which Trump has also worked to fix), has had the effect, if not the deliberate purpose, of demoralizing America\u2019s citizens.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If public spaces are dirty and dangerous, it\u2019s hard for people to build aspirations, or to feel empowered.<\/p>\n

And of course the more accustomed we are to dirty and broken public spaces, the easier it is to divert maintenance money to graft.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Although even leftist regimes know how to improve things when they want to \u2014 witness Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s rapid San Francisco clean-up ahead of a visit by Chinese overlord Xi Jinping.)<\/p>\n

By reversing this decay, Trump is doing several things at once.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First he\u2019s making it clear that decline is a choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blue cities aren\u2019t pits because of inescapable social forces;\u00a0 they\u2019re pits because the people in charge of them want them that way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you want to fix blue-city chaos and decay, you can \u2014 and he does.<\/p>\n

Second, he\u2019s telling Americans that America is something to be proud of, by making its capital city something to be proud of.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Instead of removing the symbols of our national identity and heritage, or letting them decline into sad shells of themselves, he\u2019s restoring them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our history and our identity as a nation, he\u2019s saying, are something to celebrate.<\/p>\n

And lastly, of course, he\u2019s doing his usual jiu-jitsu to the left.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump makes things nice; leftists reflexively complain about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

And more voters are likely to be impressed with the improvements than with those do nothing but moan about them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He knows that, and the leftists can\u2019t help but take the bait.<\/p>\n

So what does the reflecting pool reflect now?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The face of an America that\u2019s changing \u2014 for the better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a professor of law at the University of Tennessee and founder of the InstaPundit.com blog.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Crew members rescued after US Army Apache helicopter crashes over Strait of Hormuz<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The restoration of the iconic Washington, DC landmark mirrors Trump\u2019s surprisingly sophisticated campaign to restore nothing less than America\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nThe deeper agenda behind Trump's Reflecting Pool glow-up - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The deeper agenda behind Trump's Reflecting Pool glow-up - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The restoration of the iconic Washington, DC landmark mirrors Trump\u2019s surprisingly sophisticated campaign to restore nothing less than America\u2019s soul.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-09T10:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"The deeper agenda behind Trump’s Reflecting Pool glow-up\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T10:40:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608\"},\"wordCount\":900,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608\",\"name\":\"The deeper agenda behind Trump's Reflecting Pool glow-up - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T10:40:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=1608#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The deeper agenda behind Trump’s Reflecting Pool glow-up\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The deeper agenda behind Trump's Reflecting Pool glow-up - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The deeper agenda behind Trump's Reflecting Pool glow-up - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"The restoration of the iconic Washington, DC landmark mirrors Trump\u2019s surprisingly sophisticated campaign to restore nothing less than America\u2019s soul.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-06-09T10:40:30+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"The deeper agenda behind Trump’s Reflecting Pool glow-up","datePublished":"2026-06-09T10:40:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608"},"wordCount":900,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp","articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608","name":"The deeper agenda behind Trump's Reflecting Pool glow-up - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-09T10:40:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9b6446dfea608e31e006b1be2666901e.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=1608#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The deeper agenda behind Trump’s Reflecting Pool glow-up"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}